Passenger Wonders Why No One Else Is in Exit Row, Then Realizes Why

A video of a plane passenger's epiphany about a surprisingly empty row of seats that offer extra legroom has gone viral on TikTok.

The video, which has had 12.9 million views since it was shared on April 3, was posted by Chris Olsen (@jetset.genius), a 43-year-old based in San Diego who works in local government. Olsen told Newsweek that the footage was captured on April 2 on a Southwest Airlines flight.

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A message overlaid on the clip reads: "Wondering why no one else is in this exit row on a Boeing 737" as the camera pans across a row of empty seats on a plane.

A subsequent message reads "And then...realizing why." The camera shows Olsen sitting at the end of the row, directly adjacent to the exit door. He is shown tugging his seatbelt tighter before the clip ends.

Olsen said the aircraft was a Boeing 737-800, "so it wasn't the one that had the issue with the door plug on Alaska Airlines," which was a 737 Max 9. When he boarded the plane, he saw that "the exit row was much emptier than usual."

He noted: "Usually people snag them right away. I asked the flight attendant, 'Are these available?' and she joked, 'These days no one wants them, go ahead!' So I did."

Newsweek reached out to Boeing for comment via email.

The footage was captured just days before a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 plane abandoned takeoff at Texas Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport in early April after flames shot out of an engine. Hours later, an All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 plane reported an oil leak on arrival at Japan's Naha Airport.

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Boeing has come under fire after the aircraft manufacturer's 737 Max 9 plane operated by Alaska Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing in early January this year after a door plug flew off mid-air shortly after take-off.

The mid-air panel blowout was followed by a series of other incidents involving the malfunctioning of Boeing aircraft parts on flights operated by several other airlines, including United and Delta Air Lines, that has put the safety of Boeing planes into question.

Boeing's safety issues have shaken Americans' confidence in flying. According to a recent survey by polling firm Redfield & Wilton Strategies, conducted exclusively for Newsweek, three in four millennials were found to be more worried about flying in the wake of the latest safety incidents at Boeing.

'They Weren't Comfortable Sitting There'

Olsen told Newsweek: "As I sat there, there was one other passenger that took the exit. But I overheard many people walk by and say they weren't comfortable sitting there and mentioned the door plug incident."

Eventually, people began sitting in the exit seats because it was a full flight, "but they didn't seem pleased about it," he noted.

He added: "And some people apparently don't want to assist in an emergency, which was surprising to me. I want to be the first one out."

Olsen said he is "concerned about Boeing right now, but not enough to avoid their planes."

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